05.09.10

* I'm NOT a 'complete' 3D Stereo Disser .... but and a big BUT, I get irritated and roll my eyes how 'Suits' predictably, are now profusely salivating and jumping on the 3D bandwagon as another supposed nirvana to box office riches. All because of one frigg'n over budgeted flick called 'Avatar'. The 'suits' myopic & non-sensical rationalization: If they put '3D stamp' on movie, it automatically makes the movie a 'cash cow'? To me, it nakedly shows their 'desperation'.  So the 'new toy' is now 3D Stereo. Instead of original good stories, it's the same Hollywood-ized formulaic homogenized product. But hey, I don't really give a a rat's butt .... that's how 'mainstream movie biz' has chosen to run their business for plethora of years. Appealing to mass audiences at expense of unique & fresh movies. 'Art' in mainstream flicks is usually not a priority. Just remember peoples, you need not rely on 'mainstream' anymore. You got cornucopia of other distribution options to show your work to niche audiences. 3D Stereo maybe okay for specific types of movies. There is a 'Goldrush Fever' mentality now. Obviously it will get to the point of 3D Ad Nauseum and eventually, loses it's novelty or effectiveness if you SEE 3D ALL the frigg'n time. I am more than satisfied with good ol' 2D especially with Hi-Definition advancements. Some commentary articles about 3D. Just a mere sample. I agree with some of Roger Ebert's observations Why I Hate 3-D (& You Should Too)  Your eyes aren't deceiving you ? 3D really is a con  Debate waging over 2D-to-3D conversion  Are 3D Movie Theater Sales Overrated?

* Ol' School FX: Independent feature from Germany ....  Our Stop Mo Bro overseas Jurgen Kling in Germany doing some work for independent flick and he says, "An indie SCi-Fi feature flick using matte paintings (digitals though) and tons and tons of good old plastic models built from scratch as well as miniature sets etc etc. I´m currently shooting the models with motion control to get them up and flying. also do small SMA animation on them like turning a tank turret and rotate canons on space ships etc." Visit their site, especially the image gallery > model section - lots of behind the scene clips but german language only so far. They're working on english subs. Click NyDenion

* Dragon Stop Motion update/news .... New version 2.1 update available for those who are registered/paid owners of Dragon. They're rolling out some new tools in the software and adding hardware products that can help with 3D Stereo Stop Motion. So, do not mislabel me as a 3D Stereo hater . To be honest though, just my view, Stop Motion is already frigg'n time consuming & tedious animation process (but creatively rewarding, of course) and NOW you want to add 3D Stereo to the workflow?? Suppose, I want a herd or group of Stop Motion creature puppets interacting with 'live action'? I see a 'Technical Problem Solving NIGHTMARE'  ... but I digress . If you do choose the tortuous  Stop Motion 3D Stereo path, as I already said, the 'Dragon People' just made anouncement about some very quality professional level updated software and new hardware for more efficient production of Stop Motion Animation 3D Stereo.  Check out some of their links  Uno  Dos  Tres

* 'Uncle Ray' Free Exhibition in Tinsel Town .....  For you lucky @#%*!& that live down there, mark your calendars, May 14 - August 22, 2010. Hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Art & Sciences. If you go .... take frigg'n pictures or videos Detail Info

* Stop Motion Works News Fades into Sunset? ..... You may have noticed, SMW News updates not as frequent. This section of SMW requires 'Manual' methods to update & post. With vicissitudes of life and the volatile societal issues out there (interfering with the fun stuff), my TIME unfortunately, is becoming very LIMITED. That's what happened to Stop Motion Shorts which required too much time and effort to babysit & maintain. Eventually we had to end SMS. 

Today, many of the websites and/or blog, magazine or news type sites that require frequent updating, are more 'Automated' but they use under the hood, more complex 'coding' to create those somewhat slickified sites. Unfortunately, I only know minimal Html coding but it was enough so I can 'fake it' to keep Stop Motion Works online for about 10 years now. I could hire some high hourly paid 'website designer' but I am not going to pay gouging fees, as this online presence has primarily been my volunteer effort to keep it going for the bigger cause of Stop Motion. Me being the contemplative Lone Wolf, I'm not connected like Marc Spess is. He sometimes receives volunteer help through his Animate Clay's social media-ized community. Again, I am referring to  'SMW News' specifically. Maybe I'll look into Wordpress but might be difficult (I'm NOT 'puter geek) for me to install WP on the web hosting server I use, which will again require more TIME I have to devote sitting in front of 'Puter . The other hassle for me, to integrate or blend WP so that it will match the 'look' of SMW. Anyway, these are merely preliminary thought processes and I'm not sure of direction of SMW News section itself, but rest of site might remain online with maybe some minor changes to the aesthetics, layout, color, etc. (such as wider/larger pages for the bigger flat screen computer monitors). Link UPDATE: Into the Sunset prognosis EDIT: 05.10.1